10 Best Ring Names In WWE History
6. 'Gigolo' Jimmy Del Ray
And now for the only performer on this list not enshrined in legend.
Something like The Rock lives on as a seminal name because of the arrogant illeism with which the man himself put it over. But, in reality, if a juiced-up past-it jobber turned up bearing that moniker in the Dungeon of Doom, you would not have paused for thought.
No: 'Gigolo' Jimmy Del Ray was a wonderful ring name in itself, and because it captured the grotesque subject so wonderfully. 'Gigolo' is a slimy synonym for a male escort with connotations of the rotund - something Jimmy himself captured with his lewd barrel rolls designed to make the skin crawl. 'Gigolo' was an hilariously naff attempt at eroticism. 'Del Ray', meanwhile, was an hilariously naff attempt at exoticism; there was no way a man of his distinct features emanated from a tropical Mediterranean paradise. And, bang in the midst of it all, was 'Jimmy' - a mundane forename betraying the ambition behind the gimmick, which itself was designed to antagonise through its obliviousness.
That's not to say Jimmy Del Ray was pure, broad comedy; the Heavenly Bodies were a choice tag act, and he was equipped with the in-ring game to match the purpose behind the name.